Toyota Poised for New Performance Lineup Prior to Supra Successor

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky
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toyota poised for new performance lineup prior to supra successor

Despite having a rich history in motorsports, Toyota is one of the last automakers that springs to mind when you think about present-day performance. But Toyota has been rebranding itself with edgier designs and additional attitude lately. It says it’s ready to bring forth a fully-fledged performance lineup for later this year — perhaps something akin to Lexus’ F cars.

The automaker already offers a performance lineup under its Toyota Racing Development label in North America and Gazoo Racing in Europe and Japan. However TRD has focused largely on off-roading, while Gazoo has trickled in from legitimate racing to develop small G-badged road cars with more moxie and a few extremely limited edition Gazoo Racing Meister of Nurburgring (GRMN) units with engines to match the aggressive visuals.

According to Automotive News, Toyota plans to announce what it calls a “new sports car series” at an event next month in Tokyo. But whether that’s to yield a more hardcore lineup under the Gazoo badge or something entirely new is unknown. The brand has already admitted it would bolster its GRMN offerings earlier this year, meaning September’s announcement could be a showcase of what that will look like.

Presently, Gazoo Racing Meister of Nurburgring has produced limited runs of the 86, Mark X, IQ, and Yaris with performance-enhanced suspensions, wheels, transmissions, engines, seats, and aerodynamics — none of which never made it to North America. That’s a shame because we wondered if a Toyota Yaris with double its current horsepower would have found a niche for itself here.

Granted, what works in the East doesn’t necessarily work in the West and the GRMN vehicles are expensive alternatives to the base equivalent. But, with TRD existing as little more than a way to place factory accessories onto your Tacoma, Tundra, or 4Runner, Toyota’s lack of a true sporting division in the region has become glaring and obnoxious.

The brand’s new line of sports cars will arrive sometime next month, ahead of the much-anticipated successor to the Toyota Supra. Hopefully, one or two of them will make it into America.


[Images: Toyota]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

Consumer advocate tracking industry trends, regulation, and the bitter-sweet nature of modern automotive tech. Research focused and gut driven.

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  • RHD RHD on Aug 28, 2017

    The grille shape is just nasty. Okay, rectangular has been done before, but this alternative is look-away ugly. What are they thinking?!

  • Scott25 Scott25 on Aug 28, 2017

    Ok I didn't know the GRMN iQ Supercharger existed and that's pretty awesome, that tiny box with 120+ hp and handling enhancements. The G's trim solely seems to be applied to ridiculous vehicles in Japan, such as Priuses, Harrier (Lexus RX analogue) and mini-MPVs with lowered suspension and "sport seats". First course of action should be a Juke Nismo-rivalling ~200hp C-HR with an LSD except without the body kit and preferably without the seats that are somehow even less comfortable than Recaros. Then an iM with the same engine and upgrades.

  • Jeff NYC does have a right to access these charges and unless you are traveling on business or a necessity you don't have to drive or live in NYC. I have been in NYC a few times and I have absolutely no desire to go back. I can say the same thing about Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston where I lived for 29 years. A city can get too big where it is no longer livable for many. I was raised in West Houston near the Katy Freeway which is part of I-10. The Katy Freeway when I moved from Houston was a 6 lane road--3 lanes on each side of the interstate with each side have side access roads which we called feeder roads for a total of 8 lanes. Today the Katy freeway has 26 lanes which include feeder roads. I went back to Houston in 2010 to see my father who was dying and lost any desire to go back. To expand the Katy Freeway it took thousands of businesses to be torn down. I read an article about future expansion of the Katy freeway that said the only way to expand it was to either put a deck above it or to go underground. One of the things the city was looking at was to have tolls during the peak hours of traffic. Houston is very flat and it is easier to expand the size of roads than in many eastern cities but how easy is it to expand a current road that already has 26 lanes and holds the record for the widest road in the World. It seems that adding more lanes to the Katy freeway just expanded the amount of traffic and increased the need for more lanes.
  • Art_Vandelay It's not like everyone is topping their ICE vehicles off and coasting into the gas station having used every last drop of fuel either though. Most people start looking to fill up at around a 1/4 of a tank. If you constantly run the thing out of gas your fuel pump would probably be unhappy. If you running your EV to zero daily you probably bought the wrong vehicle
  • ToolGuy Imagine how exciting the automotive landscape will be once other manufacturers catch up with Subaru's horizontally-opposed engine technology.
  • FreedMike Oh, and this..."While London likes to praise its own congestion charging for reducing traffic and increasing annual revenues, tourism has declined..."The reason London's tourism numbers are down is that the city has resumed its' "tourist tax." And why did the tourist tax get reimposed? Brexit. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/tourist-tax-cost-millions-myth-hmrc-survey-foreign-visitors-spending-uk-b1082327.html
  • Dukeisduke Eh, still a Nissan. Nope.
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